Help for flood victims

By Paul Pickering
FROM his humble foothills practice, Upwey GP Dr Ahmed Sharif says a sense of commitment and obligation has drawn his thoughts home to flood-ravaged Bangladesh.
Last Wednesday, the globetrotting doctor launched a new fundraising initiative called Social Help Endeavour for Bangladesh (SHEBA) which is aimed at providing aid and rehabilitation for the victims of ongoing flood problems.
Dr Sharif left Bangladesh in 1989 to study and work in South Africa but says he still feels a strong commitment to family and friends living through the natural disaster.
Having arrived in Australia in 2001, he now practices at Upwey Doctors’ Clinic on Main Street as well as the Station Street Clinic in Pakenham.
By default, these practices have now become the headquarters for SHEBA – the new nine-member committee of which Dr Sharif is the president.
Having recently registered SHEBA as an official fundraising organisation, Dr Sharif is now hoping the hills community will support the group with their goodwill and good ideas.
It is with deep sorrow that Dr Sharif recites the statistics of devastation from the floods in his homeland.
“One quarter of all agricultural lands are now under water,” he said.
“Millions of people have lost their homes, livestock and livelihoods.”
“People are trapped on the roofs of houses, on the highways and in remote locations under open sky.
“There is already an epidemic of water born diseases including cholera,” he continued.
“In all, about half of Bangladesh’s 150 million people are affected directly or indirectly.”
What SHEBA is asking for is not only money, but ideas and contacts to build the operation.
“Money for medicine is OK but people have lost their livelihoods so we’re talking about rehabilitation,” Dr Sharif said.
While a portion of the funds raised will go towards basic needs such as feeding families, Dr Sharif says SHEBA is focusing on helping Bangladeshi people set-up their own micro-enterprise – small ventures such as mobile shops, poultry farming and goat rearing.
“Micro-enterprise creates an income stream for a family so the family can then send their children to school and keep them away from child labour,” he said.
Within this self-perpetuating system, Dr Sharif says $100 can change the lives of one family.
Other initiatives SHEBA plans to undertake include supporting a rare public library in the Charmohar district and a preventative health care project in Comilla.
Because SHEBA was only recently registered, monetary donations are not tax deductible, so Dr Sharif is asking for modest contributions.
Anyone who believes they can assist SHEBA in its cause can contact Dr Sharif on 9754 7566 or at sasharif@bigpond.com.
Alternatively, donations can be made into the SHEBA account (BSB: 013312 A/C: 488641249).